Battle Royale: A New Generation
by LastTenorStandin
Summary: The President has just decided to bring the BR Act to America. What will happen to the students of Framingham High School, Homeroom B134? Only time will tell. Can any of them survive the game of life?
1. Character List

**List Of All The Students**

**Male Student #1 **– Isaac Baich

**Female Student #1** – Ada Velez

**Male Student #2** – Joshua Bailey

**Female Student #2 **– Chelsea Butler

**Male Student #3** – Dean Miller

**Female Student #3 **– Nadine Ryder

**Male Student #4 **– Ivan Barclay

**Female Student #4** – Serena Kwayera

**Male Student #5** – Andy Griffen

**Female Student #5** – Cameron Weiss

**Male Student #6 **– Wayne Kennedy

**Female Student #6** – Faith Harper

**Male Student #7** – Vincent Chen

**Female Student #7** – Veronica Solis

**Male Student #8 **– Kif Riley

**Female Student #8** – Amanda Hawkins

**Male Student #9** – Dylan Richards

**Female Student #9** – Alison Moyer

**Male Student #10** – Andrew McCormick

**Female Student #10** – Uzuki Kimura

**Male Student #11** – Ayato Takahashi

**Female Student #11 **– Zoe Martin

**Male Student #12 **– Kenneth LeBlanc

**Female Student #12** – Phoebe Cruz

**Male Student #13** – Tyler Clarkson

**Female Student #13** – Claire Ritter

**Male Student #14** – Zeek Hamilton

**Female Student #14** – Shannon Gibson

**Male Student #15** – Brett Hamilton

**Female Student #15** – Jennifer Stevens

**Male Student #16 **– Justin Huxley

**Female Student #16** – Ryan Foley

**Male Student #17** – Travis Strawson

**Female Student #17** – Tami Walters

**Male Student #18** – David Ellis

**Female Student #18** – Tanya Lewis

**Male Student #19** – Aaron Welsh

**Female Student #19** – Asya Reed

**Male Student #20** – Benjamin Barnes

**Female Student #20** – Alanna Turner

**Male Student #21** – Stanley Pirie

**Female Student #21** – Michelle Taylor


	2. Prelude: A Letter

**Prelude: A Letter**

Dear Mr. President,

It has come to my attention that the uprising in the youth has been exacerbating recently, the likes of which has never been seen since the Youth Revolution of 2007. Unless we wish to witness a repeat of the massacre that has occurred twenty years ago, I suggest we take prompt action. In the attached envelope is an outline of my proposition, the BR Act. It was first created in Japan in the 1960s with the intention of keeping their youth in line. There was, as with all new policies, some initial resilience, but it soon died down and the youth population became more submissive. Unfortunately, there has traditionally been a rise in terrorism against the government in question once the policy is put into place, but it is usually easy to extinguish. A list of all terrorist groups against the BR Act, most of which were past winners of the BR Act, has been provided to you. There has only been one significant case, one Mr. Nanahara, and all his crimes and information are included in the file. There is no need to worry, however, as Mr. Nanahara had been executed in 2025.

There is, of course, a risk of political strike, but once the population sees the change they will thank us. It is up to you to decide whether or not you want another war on your hands. Sometimes innocent people have to be sacrificed in order to protect the masses. All other countries that have adopted this plan have found it to be of great aid, and it is about time America joined in. I will gladly volunteer to be the runner of the Program in its first year, should you decide to implement this policy. I urge you, Mr. President, to do something before it is too late.

Yours sincerely,

Secretary of Defense,  
Ms. Dona Carrillo


	3. 0: Introduction

**0: Introduction**

The morning sunlight shines through the steel-plated glass. The natural illumination is a relief compared to the fluorescent lighting, for like many other schools, Framingham High School suffers from the bluish glowing light. Mrs. Paine sits at her desk, reading over her students' papers. Everything on her desk is in complete order, not one object out of place. On the right side of her desk, there is a stack of papers yet to be graded and passed back, every sheet perfectly aligned and not a single paper stuck out. Next to the papers are three cups, one orange, one blue, and one white. The orange cup holds only pencils, the blue cup holds only blue pens and the white cup holds only whiteboard markers, upside down such that only the white part is showing. A wooden name tag reading 'Mrs. Isabella Paine' lies next to the three cups, perfectly parallel to and exactly two inches away from the edge of the desk. On the other side of the desk, next to the wooden nametag, are three more cups, a black one, a red one and a gray one. The black cup holds only black pens, the red cup holds only red pens and the grey cup holds only overhead projector pens, upside down such that only the grey part is showing. Next to the three cups is a stack of English textbooks, perfectly stacked such that the edges matched.

A gust of wind blows into the classroom from one of the open windows, the cool breeze sending a few of the perfectly stacked papers onto the floor. Phoebe Cruz (Female Student #12), who has been making sure that every strand of her hair is aligned with the others, gets out of her seat and quickly rushes to help return the papers to their original positions.

"I'm sorry, Phoebe. Let me shut the window." Mrs. Paine rises out of her chair and makes her way over.

"There I go again." Phoebe finishes arranging the papers and retreats back to her seat in the front row. She brings her braided ponytail back around her shoulder so she can keep an eye on those loose strands. Phoebe has to make sure everything is in its place. Her obsessive-compulsive disorder is the reason why Mrs. Paine's desk is so spotless. Being in the front row, Phoebe is unaware of the messes behind her. All she has to do is focus on Mrs. Paine's desk and she is fine. She does this with all her teachers.

Mrs. Paine grabs the latch of the window and tries to pull it down, the dried up paint giving her a hard time. She only manages to get the window halfway down before it gets stuck. Travis Strawson (Male Student #17) reaches over Mrs. Paine's shoulder and helps her close the window completely. Travis is a giant among midgets. Standing at 6' 5", it's weird he ended up so tall considering the fact that his parents are both 5' 7''. "There you go, Mrs. Paine," a low but cheerful voice escapes from his mouth, exhibiting yet another of his many unknown traits. He tips his blue baseball cap and goes back over to Tami Walters to flirt some more.

The glistening light coming off the fountain in the courtyard makes Mrs. Paine's yellow, shoulder-length hair glow even more. She isn't the youngest teacher at the school, but she was hands down the nicest. Everyone will take her Creative Writing Class just to have her as a teacher. Even what she wore is usually nice - not nice as in expensive, but as in simple. Today, it's a white dress with a yellow and orange floral pattern. She has one of those smiles that make everyone in the room happy just being around her. She is one of those people who make everything better.

Ms. Paine continues to stare through the window to watch the water droplets drip off the stone fountain. The fountain was relatively new - it was put in because of the Public School Beautification Act. The authorities thought having a pretty school would make students want to learn more, but Mrs. Paine knew better. It takes teachers who care for their students to get the job done. For some reason, they can purchase an expensive fountain but they can't seem to get decent air conditioning. Even though the fountain is new, it had the initials B.B. scratched on the side, which makes Mrs. Paine laugh because of how much money they put into it.

Its circular shape makes it a perfect place for students to hang out before class started. In fact, it's usually occupied by the members of the football team in the morning. One of best offensive guards at least for their grade is Vincent Chen (Male Student #7), mostly because of his size. He is sitting on the edge of the fountain, pulling an Italian sub from his backpack. Most people will have a hard time not finding food in his hands. He breaks off a piece of his sandwich and hands it to Amanda Hawkins (Female Student #8). At first glance you may think she is a cheerleader because of her beautiful face. Her brown, wavy hair can make any boy's heart melt. Even though she is on the football team, she hardly gets to play. She is mediocre at all aspects of the game except for one - when it comes to punting she is your girl. It is only the freshman football team so she has time to grow. Stretched out across the length of the fountain lies Andrew McCormack (Male Student #10), the fastest wide receiver on the team. Head against Amanda's lap, he gives her one of his smiles, a cue to give him food. Amanda grabs a gummi bear from Vincent's bag and drops it in his mouth. On the far left sits the quarterback, Michelle Taylor (Female Student #21). She is tough - she has to be to become quarterback. No one can beat her, not even the seniors. Michelle pushes Andrew's feet, causing him to fall to the ground. The other three laugh.

Mrs. Paine can't help but chuckle too. Two figures run past the fountain. It is Dylan Richards (Male Student #9) and Alanna Turner (Female Student #20). Mrs. Paine's attention follows the two close friends. She can't make out what they are saying, but it seems that they are pointing at something in one of the trees on the edge of the school. It is a cat. It is just like those two to help as many people or things as they can. Dylan crouches down so Alanna could get on his shoulder and struggles to lift her. She uses the tree as a balancing tool on the way up so that she doesn't fall. She stretches her arms out as far as she can but it was no luck. It seems like she was gesturing to go higher.

Dean Miller (Male Student #3) walks by, watching the two try to reach the cat. He is well built with a short, cropped haircut. It seems like everyday Dean ended up in the principal's office for some reason, whether it be setting the science lab on fire or verbally or even physically abusing students. This is no exception. Dean sees a decent size rock on the ground and without any hesitance he whips it at the cat. The rock ricochets off the tree and hits Alanna, causing her to fall to the ground, bringing Dylan with her. They writhe in pain on the ground as Dean just walks by laughing.

After seeing Alanna and Dylan fall, Mrs. Paine makes her way back to her desk to write down Dean Miller's name for detention. She pulls out her attendance sheet and scribbles down what he did. Since she has the attendance sheet out, Mrs. Paine scans the class to see who else is here. Only Phoebe Cruz, Travis Strawson, and Tami Walters were in homeroom so far. Mrs. Paine looks up at the clock in the far back of the room, 7:39AM. It is unusual that only three classmates were in homeroom six minutes before the bell rings. Mrs. Paine brings her eyes back down to the front row. This is when she notices Phoebe Cruz tapping her foot rapidly. "Phoebe, are you okay?"

"Yep! I'm fine." Phoebe starts to bite her lower lip.

Mrs. Paine stares at Phoebe. "Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

"No!" A moment's pause. "Okay, yes! But I can't because I have to go to the bathroom exactly at 7:55 right between homeroom and first block. If I don't do that, then I'll be early to my Math class and I'll finish counting the ceiling tiles early too, even though I know there are exactly one hundred and twenty seven ceiling tiles - but I have to make sure. If I do that early then I have to do something else which might take too long and then I'll fall behind in the class discussion and then something else until my whole day's out of whack." Phoebe takes three deep breaths.

"Here's what I'll do. If you go to the bathroom now, I'll make sure I leave my door open for you to come back and sit in your desk. That way all your actions are still done, just out of order." Mrs. Paine gets up from her chair and approaches Phoebe.

"Are you sure?"

"It's fine, Phoebe." Mrs. Paine sits on the edge of her desk.

"Thank you!" Phoebe rises from her seat. But before Phoebe walks away she reaches for the pencil Mrs. Paine just used to write down Dean's name down. She picks it up and puts it back into the orange cup. Now that everything is perfect again, Phoebe makes her way to the bathroom. Mrs. Paine just smiles and goes back to looking at her papers.

The sound of Tami Walters's (Female Student #17) laughter is heard in the back of the room. She has a very distinct laugh. It's as if a baby's voice was inserted into her body. Tami Walters and Travis Strawson are a couple that personified 'opposites attract', for they were different in almost every aspect of their lives - he is tall and she is short; he has a really low voice while she has an extremely high pitched one; he is shy and she is outgoing. It is strange to see two complete opposites making such a wonderful couple. They complete each other.

Tami's phone starts to vibrate. She goes through her pocket and flips it open. Someone sent her a text message: **Hey I got a little present for u. Look in the hall – Veronica.** Tami closes her phone and sees Veronica Solis (Female Student #7) holding a bag full of drugs in the hallway. Tami smiles as she pulls Travis by the arm and pulls him into the hallway.

It isn't the first time Tami scored drugs off of Veronica. Veronica was the go-to girl to obtain any and every drug your heart desires. This is one of the many reasons she is in charge of her gang. It's her stone cold look that strikes fear into all of her classmates. Her gang consists of Kenneth LeBlanc, Tanya Lewis, Jennifer Stevens and Wayne Kennedy. They were all her customers until she decided to become her own power and recruited them.

The bell rings, its sound echoing throughout the hallway. Mrs. Paine looks up to see an empty classroom. She slowly rises from her seat and makes her way to the window. She looks outside to see no one is there.

The sound of squeaking sneakers is heard running down the hallway. Mrs. Paine stares at the door curious to see who it is. Faith Harper (Female Student #6) comes barging in, her brown messenger bag sliding off her shoulder. She pushes her hair out of her face. "Am I late?" She asks, panting from all the running she did. She ran all the way from her house five blocks away. "Where is everybody? Please tell me that I'm early for once."

"That is a good question. You guys didn't decide to have a Freshman Skip Day, did you?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Of course you know me, always the last to know." As Faith starts to take off her jacket, a hand wraps around her mouth, covering it with a cloth soaked in chloroform. Faith falls to the floor. Two soldiers come in and carry her body out of the room.

Mrs. Paine's voice gets very serious. "What is the meaning of this?! What did you do to her?!" She rushes towards the soldiers.

A woman easily in her fifties walks into the room, her shoes clacking against the floor. Her face is rough like a man's, and her gray hair was cut very short and parted to the side. She has a very fitted grey suit on. To sum it up, she has a presence that makes Mrs. Paine uneasy.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Mrs. Paine cries out another question.

"Calm down, Mrs. Paine." The woman pulls out a badge saying she works for the government. "I'm Ms. Dona Carrillo. Your class has been chosen to take part in the first Battle Royale Program in the United States." Ms. Carrillo's voice is very strong but calm.

"Battle Royale Program?" Mrs. Paine doesn't know what she is talking about but she doesn't have a good feeling about it.

Ms. Carrillo smirks, "Mrs. Paine, I suggest you come with us. It will all be explained on the plane ride." A couple of soldiers charge into the room. "I also suggest you come without conflict."

**42 Students Remaining**


	4. 1: The Rules

**1: The Rules**

A buzzing sound is emitted as the fluorescent lighting charges up. One by one each of the fluorescent lights glows brighter lighting up the room. The newly lit room reveals, to what seems to be, a really run-down hospital. A couple of gurneys were pushed to the side and two hospital beds as well. It seems like this hospital has been abandoned considering most of the paint had been chipped off the walls and most of the metal were covered with rust.

Sprawled across the floor were forty-two students. All the guys were now wearing blue, cotton pants and a white, long-sleeved button down shirt with a blue and white sweater vest on top. All the girls were now wearing blue skirts with a white trim, a white, long-sleeved button down shirt with a blue and white sweater vest on top.

A group of soldiers barge into the room dragging a chalkboard. The wheels squeak each time the board turns slightly. Ms. Carrillo and Mrs. Paine are right behind them. Ms. Carrillo looks over to Mrs. Paine giving her the signal to start. Mrs. Paine takes out a small silver whistle. She slowly brings it up to her lips. She blows hard to expel the high pitched call.

The high pitched tone reverberates around the room waking up all the students. As each one slowly opens their eyes they realize something is off. An uproar of noise escaped their mouths.

"Where are we?!"

"What's going on?!"

"What are we wearing?"

"Why are we on the floor?"

"What the fuck is going on?"

Mrs. Paine blows on the whistle again. Mrs. Paine then yells with a forceful voice, which was different than anything they heard before, "QUEIT!!" It was different. It was weird. It was mean. The class went silent after hearing their favorite teacher yell.

One of the girls raises her hand. Ryan Foley (Female Student #16) emerges from the group of confused students. Ryan is very articulate. You can tell just by looking at her. She got elected to be next years class president. She should be able to figure out the problem. As she spoke her voiced remained very calm, "What is going on, Mrs. Paine? Who are these people?"

Mrs. Paine gives out a smirk, "I'm glad you asked. It's time you guys get what you deserve. The president decided to bring the BR Act to America." The students look to each other in confusion. No one knew what she meant from this statement.

While everyone looks to the other to give them the answer Uzuki Kimura (Female Student #10) turns pale. Sweat rolls down her face out of fear and anger. She picks up and old book left on one of the shelves and whips it at Mrs. Paine. It misses her and the soldiers aim their guns at Uzuki. "NO! This can't be happening." Everyone stares at Uzuki, her head shaking in denial as she yells, "My parents warned me of this game. It's the reason why we escaped out of Japan. You can't make us do this! This is America! It is against the law."

Ms. Carrillo, who has been watching Mrs. Paine do her thing, steps out, "Laws can change."

"Well since you know so much, Uzuki, why don't you tell your classmates what they will be doing." Mrs. Paine says in her cheerful voice. It was a different kind of cheerful, more like an eerie kind.

From the way Uzuki reacted everyone became more uneasy then they were before. Some students shifted awkwardly as others twiddled with their thumbs. Everyone had their eyes fixed on Uzuki's jet black hair. Uzuki takes a deep breath, "They want us…They want us to kill each other till one survives."

It was the silence before the storm. Everyone was stunned with what she just said. Then a flood of emotions overcame everyone. As the cries of disbelieve, anger, and fear filled the classroom Zeek Hamilton (Male Student #14) moves over to his twin brother Brett Hamilton (Male Student #15) and whispers in his ear. The only way you could tell the difference between the two, especially now that they are wearing the same thing, would be their hair styles. Zeek chose to spike his hair up in the front while Brett decided to push his hair forward as if a high power fan was blowing from behind. Zeek stands up followed by Brett. "You can't force us to play." Zeek shouted out.

Brett soon followed, "Yeah! We all will just not play!"

"This game won't fly in the U.S if we don't follow your rules!" Zeek said.

"You fool. There are five other BR games happening as we speak. So even if you don't play…one of them will." Mrs. Paine's surprisingly strong voice pierces though each one of their souls. "Let's start the rules." Mrs. Paine moves toward the blackboard. "Each one of you will be supplied with a military bag. This bag will contain food, water, a flashlight, a map, and a random weapon. Whether it be something useless as a drawing pencil or as deadly as a shotgun. It's the luck of the draw. Oh, and have fun with those weapons and don't be shy to have a little creativity with them.

A chill runs down Stanley Pirie's (Male Student #21) back. He lifts himself off the floor. A couple of tears roll down his face. His long bangs started to stick to his cheeks due to the tears coming out. His voice became very wobbly as he spoke, "Mrs. Paine, what happened to you? Why are you doing this?"

"Because I've got sick of you pieces of shit! It's about time a Battle Royale takes place here and it's gonna be my pleasure to see all of you die." Again it was uncomfortable to hear Mrs. Paine be mean.

All of a sudden Michelle Taylor (Female Student #21), the star quarterback, springs out of the chair she was sitting in and lunges at Ms. Carrillo, "It's all your fault!" Within a blink of an eye Ms. Carrillo grabs Michelle by the neck and slams her into the wall. Surprisingly Ms. Carrillo had great strength and she lifts Michelle up by the throat. Michelle flails a bit as she tries to grasp for air, her legs dangling in midair. Her face starts to turn blue and Ms. Carrillo releases her making Michelle fall to the floor.

"You didn't expect that, did you?" Ms. Carrillo stares at Michelle collapsed on the floor, her hands wrapped around her neck. Her friend and football teammate Amanda Hawkins immediately dashed to her side. "You should be more careful. You don't want that collar of yours to go off, do you?" It was at this point that everybody notices there is a cold, metal collar around their neck. A few start to tug at their collars. "I wouldn't do that unless you feel like dieing early." Immediately those who where touching their collars let go in fear.

Strange enough a huge laugh comes from the back of the room. Shannon Gibson (Female Student #14) couldn't control her laughter anymore. "I get it now! I get it!" Shannon gives out another big laugh. "We're on some kind of T.V prank show. Is it High School High Jinks? I love that show!" She gives out another laugh. "This is good you had us going! So where is the host? Let me guess the "guns" are the cameras. Think about it people this has to be some kind of hoax. Nothing will happen if I take off this collar." She gives out another laugh. "See watch!" Shannon pulls really hard on the silver choker around her neck. If your hearing was above average you could hear the small click of the collar exploding as Shannon's head was dislocated over her body. Blood covered all the students near Shannon's body. There was a moment's hesitation before her body fell to the floor.

The room was deathly silent, "Now does anyone else think this is a practical joke?" Mrs. Paine spoke loud and firm. No one responded. Blood continued to ooze out of where Shannon's head used to be. "No?...Good. Now we can finally get to the rules." Mrs. Paine walks over to the blackboard. She starts to draw a grid across the board. "This island will be divided into multiple zones. As time goes by more and more zones will become what we call danger zones. If you are…" Mrs. Paine stops mid-sentence. She walks strongly to the back of the room, kicking Shannon's dead body on the way. Everyone gets out of her way as she makes her way across the room. David Ellis (Male Student #18) remains underneath one of the beds covering his eyes. Mrs. Paine grabs David's thick, curly hair and drags him out in the open. "This is not something you can escape from. So pay attention." Mrs. Paine makes her way back to the front. "Where was I? Oh! If you are caught in one of the danger zones your collar will detonate just like Shannon's did when she tried to take it off. Also if you decide to go with the golden boys plan to not kill anyone." She walks right up to Zeek and Brett and stares them in the face, streaking Brett's face with her white chalk before she continued walking. "In twenty-four hours if no one is killed all your collars will blow. You will get ten minutes of warning to find someone to kill in the event that happens. Which according to previous games in other countries it's less than 1. This game continues till only one survives." She makes her way back to the chalkboard and she writes on the board Sector F-6. "Last but not least. Each one of you will leave this hospital one by one every two minutes. Once the last person leaves twenty minutes later Sector F-6, where we are, will become the first danger zone. That's it for the rules everything else is free game. Now let the game begin!" Ms. Carrillo hands Mrs. Paine a bag. "Now let's see who is leaving first. Oh, one more thing. If anyone decides to loiter in the hall or attacks one of the guards you will be shot on sight." Mrs. Paine reaches into the bag and pulls out a piece a paper, "Oh, Male Student #7 Vincent Chen, ironic it being one of the few Asian kids in the class, you will be the first to leave."

Vincent doesn't move. The soldiers point their guns at him. He quickly brings himself up. The soldiers throw a military bag at Vincent's face. He takes one more look at the class before he exited into the hall. One after another each student leaves the room, fourteen minutes go by, "Female student #10 Uzuki Kimura." Uzuki grabs one of the military bags and storms out of the room. Two more minutes go by, "Male Student #11 Ayato Takahashi."

Ayato slowly rises as he brushes through his black hair, shifting it to the left. As he grabs his military bag he turns back to the class, "If anyone wants to know I won't be playing." Then he continues to leave the room.

Zoe Martin (Female Student #11) stares at Ayato leave. Her eyes fixated on every step that Ayato made. Tears start to well up in her eyes. She stands up preparing herself to be next.

Two more minutes go by, "Female Student #11 Zoe Martin"

Zoe grabs a bag and runs out of the room tears flowing down her face.

More and more classmates leave the room. The room starts to become empty. "Male Student #6 Wayne Kennedy." Wayne grabs his bag and leaves the room. Now only Faith Harper (Female Student #6) remained in the room.

It was still to unbelievable to Faith that she might never see any of her classmates again. Faith looked around the room; she looked at the soldiers standing with their backs perfectly straight, she looked at the headless body of Shannon lying in a pool of blood. Her heart cringed in pain as she thinks of how some of the classmates left the room. How Michelle Taylor pushed one of the soldiers as she left. The amount of tears coming out of people's eyes like the amount Stanley Pirie and Serena Kwayera (Female Student #4) shed. Justin Huxley (Male Student #16) was the only one to hug his friends, Chelsea Butler (Female Student #2) and Cameron Weiss (Female Student #5), goodbye. Was everyone scared of everyone else? The seconds tick away. Faith didn't know if she wanted the two minutes to be over quickly or slowly so she can feel safe in this room.

"Last but not least Female Student #6 Faith Harper."

Faith's heart jumps slightly. She makes her way to the front of the room where Ms. Carrillo and Mrs. Paine stood handing out military bags. As she grabs one of the two remaining bags she catches a glance Mrs. Paine gives her. It felt like the old Mrs. Paine.

A gun gets pointed at Faith's head. The guard yells, "Move!" Faith didn't hesitate and quickly left the room.

A few moments of silence as the soldiers leave the room to go their posts. Ms. Carrillo turns to Mrs. Paine, who had lost all her strong composure and was now crying heavily, "You did well. You really got them believing you hate them. Keep it up."

Mrs. Paine starts to leave the room but before she does she turns around, "What you are doing to them is horrible."

Ms. Carrillo gives out a laugh, "You'll get over it."

Mrs. Paine whips the tears off her face but it is followed by more tears. She couldn't bear the thought of seeing any of her students die, yet alone witnessing them kill each other. She takes one more look at Shannon's body. A chill runs down her back that was so horrible it actually gave her pain. She then makes her way out of the room.

**41 Students Remaining**


	5. 2: Last To Leave

**2: Last To Leave**

Each step feels as haunting as the last. Faith Harper makes her way down the long hallway. She passes soldier after soldier, getting closer to the mystery that lies behind that front door. More correctly…it is the doorway to hell. Will she see piles of dead bodies? Will anyone be waiting for her? Will someone try to kill her on sight? What is lurking in the darkness? Faith stops in her tracks. Her hand can't stop shaking. She tightens her grip on her supplied military pack. Tears of anger roll down her face. If she was more of a fighter she would have stupidly attacked one of the guards, but she didn't. She just stood there.

One of the guards pushes her, snapping her out of her emotions. "Keep moving" one of the guards bellowed.

Faith makes her way down the hall some more. Prolonging what's out that door is one of Faith's objectives. _How can Mrs. Paine do this to us? _Images of how Mrs. Paine used to be flash though her head, the way she always encouraged all her students, that smile she always had. How Mrs. Paine always stayed after school and challenged Faith with logic problems and riddles for fun. But the encouragement was gone, the smiles are gone, and the ties of friendship are gone.

It felt like an eternity walking down this hallway, which only spanned a five room length. Faith stares at the door. She takes one look back at the soldiers. That's when she noticed Mrs. Paine walking out of the room Faith just came out of. It was only a second's glimpse but Faith noticed that Mrs. Paine was now crying.

There is no more time to stall. Faith had to face what was behind the door. She slowly raises her hands onto the handle and pushes on the metal bar. The metal pushes inward unlocking the door. A gust of wind swings the door open.

There were no bodies. There were no friends. All Faith saw was the darkness. A grasshopper echoed through the wind, as if being carried by the night's breeze. The door closed behind her. She walks down a couple of steps. The dirt was very dry. Tall trees covered the eastern part of the hospital, accompanied by a row of dense bushes. _What to do now? _Faith takes a couple more steps looking around intently for any movement. Of coarse it would be Faith to be the last to leave, always the last to do everything. _At least no one is attacking each other. Maybe nobody will kill each other. Maybe we can all find a way out of this mess together. I just need to find a friend._

The bushes start to rustle near by. Faith spoke to soon. The killer was probably waiting for the perfect chance to strike. To Faith's relief, Claire Ritter (Female Student #13) emerges from the bushes.

_A friend! She waited for me. _

Claire's beautiful face shined through the moonlight. Her soft, blonde hair blows with the wind. They were friends since the second they met each other. Claire makes her way forward but Faith now notices that she is holding a shotgun, a Tanaka M870 Shotgun to be exact. Faith takes a couple steps back. _No, not her. She wouldn't kill…would she? _ She prepares herself to run away if her friend decided to attack.

"Faith, don't!" Claire cries out. Another rustling of bushes is heard behind Claire. Tami Walters (Female Student #17) and Travis Strawson (Male Student #17) step out of the bushes. Tami holds her supplied weapon, a Tower Guard Crossbow, and Travis holds his, a Czechoslovakian CZ75. Travis keeps his arm wrapped around Tami.

_Did they form a little group?_ Faith walks closer to them her eyes fixated on their weapons. She looked at the gun Travis was holding, then her eyes darted to Tami's crossbow, "W-What are you guys doing?"

"Were gonna attack the soldiers." Tami's high pitched voice arises from her small body.

"What?" Faith responds, "Didn't they say they will shoot anyone who lingers at the hospital."

Travis starts to talk in his low, quiet voice, "We know but…" He stops. He was shy in normal situations but now it is even worse. Travis struggles to talk.

Tami jumps right in, "We don't care." Whenever Travis is a lack of words Tami always knows what to say.

"We're not gonna play their game." Claire spoke again, her voice softer than before. Her face now flushed with determination. Claire looks at her watch it read 3:24AM. Fifteen more minutes to continue with their plan.

**41 Students Remaining **


	6. 3: Revolution

**3: Revolution**

Claire stared at Faith, who stood there speechless. Claire puts her hand onto the pendant around her neck. It was her mother's pendant, it wasn't made of gold or an expensive gemstone, but it was the last thing her mother gave to her before she died.

* * *

A young Claire is huddled in the bed sheets of her parent's room. Claire's mom, Silvia, walks into the bedroom. Her long, brown hair is put into a tight pony-tail she was wearing her pajamas. She walks to the bed where Claire is hiding. She lies on it, "You can come out now Claire."

"Did you check for all the monsters?" Claire voice was muffled from under the sheets.

"Yes, I did. There are no monsters in your room." Silvia sweetly expresses.

"Did you check under the bed?" The sheets move as if facing Silvia.

"Yes, Claire." Silvia gives out a smile.

"And the closet?" Claire shyly lets out.

"Of course." Silvia cheerfully says to the sheet.

"And, um…um…the fishbowl?"

Silvia lets out a slight laugh, "I looked all over your room. Now come on out"

A moment goes by. Claire slowly takes the bed sheet off her body. Her hair now frazzled. Claire gives out a little pout. Silvia makes a gesture for Claire to lie down next to her. Claire wraps her arms around her mother. Silvia opens the nightstand next to the bed and pulls out a purple pendant. It was a circular purple ball surrounded by metal wire.

Claire knew what this was. Every night she would sneak into her mother's room and look at it. Silvia hands it to Claire. Claire stares at the magical purple orb. Flecks of purple light sparkle throughout the room. Claire can't help but smile.

"I want you to have this." Silvia takes the pendant out of Claire's hand and wraps it around her neck. "It has always given me strength when I needed it. Let it do the same for you even when I'm not around." Claire raises one of her eyebrows in confusion. "How about you sleep with daddy and me tonight, would you like that?" Claire nods her head rapidly. It wasn't until later that Claire would find out that would be the last time she saw her mother.

When Claire turned thirteen her father presented her with a letter, it was from Silvia.

_Dear my sweet Claire,_

_I'm sorry that I could not express to you what was going on the night I left. Young minds should not be wary of the horror of how the world works. We thought we corrected the injustice that happened in the Youth Revolution of 2007. But it seems we did not. As much as I would love to spend the rest of my life watching you grow there seems to be more who need my help, a future to help us all. I'm going to Washington D.C. to protest the further restrictions the youth have to suffer through. I know you may hate me now and that's okay. I just want you to remember to always fight for what you believe in. Everything is worth fighting for and I'm fighting for you. I might have to do something drastic and it would be hard for me to come back from that. In the case that I don't return I will always be with you. I hope your father made you strong just like I tried to make you. Hopefully this letter will never have to be given to you but just know I love you with all my heart._

_ Love Your Loving Mother,_

_ Be Strong_

* * *

_"Be Strong and always fight for what you believe in."_ these words has always stuck in her head especially now and it indeed made her stronger. One look at her pendant and Claire knew what she had to do. _I'll do you proud mother._ She looks back at Faith. "So will you join us?"

"I…Claire, I…" Faith stutters as she tries to form an answer.

Claire knew though, "Its okay, you don't have to join us." Claire reaches out for Faith's arm. "I didn't expect you to anyways."

Tami couldn't hold in her anger anymore, "Like the others! They were all too scared to stand up against them! All of them a pack of pathetic weaklings! These are the people who we grew up with."

"You can't blame them." Travis quietly starts, "People are scared. Once we leave that hospital you can't blame anyone for their actions."

Annoyed that Travis had a point Tami say to Travis, "Shut up, Travis." Travis' face softened and almost looked apologetic.

"Claire…I-I don't want this to happen." Tears roll down Faith's cheeks.

Claire grabs Faith and hugs her tight. She brings Faith's head onto her shoulder. "We'll always be friends. Take care out there. Do you best to help them." Claire stayed strong. Her eyes became watery but she never shed a tear. She looks at her watch. _3:31 we better get a move on. _Claire turns to Tami and Travis, "Are you guys ready?"

They both nodded simultaneously. Claire notices that Tami still had a pissed off look on her face, it was the one of the things that Tami isn't good at. She always showed what she thought with her facial expressions.

Faith remains in the bushes while the other three makes their way to the front door. Claire and Travis cock their guns. Tami puts an arrow into her crossbow. Claire and Travis remain on the left side of the stairs while Tami remains on the right. Claire looks over to Tami and sticks out three fingers. Claire mouths the number three then the number two, reducing her fingers to two as well. Right before Claire gets down to one, Travis scurries over to Tami. Dust arises from all the steps he took. Claire gasped as she thought Travis would expose them.

Travis looks into Tami's eyes. He tries to speak but his words only came out as weird noises. "I…I…"

Tami just smiles, "I know." They just stared at each other but it seems like they didn't need to say anything. Travis starts to cry but it wasn't because they might not make it out alive. It was because Tami looked so pretty in the night's light. He takes off his hat and puts in onto Tami's head. The hat was a couple sizes too big so it looked like the hat was swallowing her. Tami can't help but give out another smile. "You have hat hair."

"Why do you think I wear the hat?" Travis smiles back at her.

Claire couldn't help but think of her mother as she watches Tami and Travis share this moment. _This is what you meant mother. Sometimes this is more important then the ones you love. _"Hey, lovebirds!" Claire quietly yells to the couple. Not too loud to be noticed of course. "Now are you ready?" Both of them nod and connect hands.

Claire sticks out three fingers…then two…then one. The three barge through the door. The fluorescent lights from inside the hospital illuminate the darkness outside. Without any hesitance, the rapid gunfire drifted with the wind. The light coming out of the hospital silhouetted all three of their bodies. For a split second Faith could see their souls escape their bodies as their shadows scattered around the light.

The hospital doors close. It was over just like that. Their bodies were now sprawled out across the dirt. Faith gaped in horror. She slowly crawled over to the three. Claire didn't seem to be moving and nothing much was left of the right side of Travis' face.

Faith's eyes focus on Tami. Tami's fingers couldn't stop twitching. Blood flowed out of multiple holes on Tami's body. Faith tries to hold up Tami's head. Tears kept flowing out of Tami's eyes, "I…I c-can't…f-feel..." Her hand twitches even more. With all her strength Tami stretches out her arm toward Travis' body. "Tra…Travis…f-feel." Tami managed to utter right before her arm went limp and fell to the floor.

Faith sat beside Tami, motionless. She notices Travis' hat had fallen off her head. It now covered with blood. The blood had soaked into the hat creating a purple residue. Faith grabs it and puts it back onto Tami's head as she lays her head down on the ground. You could see that Tami was happy.

A murmur came from where Claire's body was. "Faith..." Claire managed to cough out.

Faith head fixates herself onto Claire. She jumps over Tami's body spreading dirt all over her. Faith grabs onto Claire's hand. "Claire…Claire are you okay?" Faith trembled as she spoke, "Please tell me you're going to be okay!" More tears release from Faith's eyes.

"I'm sorry…Faith." Claire coughed again. Blood spattered out of her mouth.

Faith's eyes continue to tear up, new tears replaced the old ones, "No…Claire, no…"

"Be strong…" Claire coughed again, her voice grew fainter by the second, "and fight…fight for w-what you…b-belie-e-v-v…" Claire words broke mid-sentence. Her body just lies there lifeless. Her eyes still fixated on Faith.

"CLAIRE!!" Faith let out a piercing scream as she hugs her friend's body. "Why…" Faith noticed Claire's pendant in her hand. Faith pries open her fingers and takes the pendant. She looks at the beautiful purple glow of the pendant before she puts it around her neck.

The clock around Claire's wrist read 3:37. Five more minutes before this place would become a danger zone. Faith closes Claire's eyes. She struggles herself to get up but she knew she had to. She had to be strong. Faith grabs her military bag she left in the bushes. What other horrors wait in the darkness? All thoughts escaped Faith's mind as she ran as fast as she could away from the bodies of her dead friends.

**38 Students Remaining**


	7. 4: Being Remembered

**4: Being Remembered**

The sounds of rustling leaves and braking branches flow through the forest. (Male Student #20) Benjamin Barnes sprints through the forest. The sound of gunfire echo's through his head. Since the gunfire was heard only a measly half hour ago Benjamin had not stop running. His tall, lanky body maneuvers around the vegetation. He hasn't even looked through his military bag yet. He just clutched onto it as he ran.

He could only assume that the gunfire game from the Hospital. As soon as he exited the hospital he had been approached by Claire Ritter. She had this ridiculous plan to attack the hospital. It was basically suicide Benjamin thought. _I won't die like that! _Benjamin continues to dash through the forest. _Where's the glory in that! Who is gonna praise the dead? The winner is the only one truly remembered. _Sweat continues to roll down his face. His breath becomes shallower. _No time to brake got to run. _The echoes of the gunfire run through his head again. _No, not like that! _

As Benjamin goes to jump over a log his long legs doesn't quite make it over. There was no time to retain any balance or grab a hold of any tree near by. He trips over the logs and goes crashing into the ground. Benjamin lies there in intense pain. He flips himself over as he tries to retain from getting the wind knocked out of him. He lies in pain for a bit then manages to lean himself against a tree.

Scssh

Benjamin's head starts to throb. _Dammit! _He touches his forehead and feels a moist substance where the majority of the throbbing game from. He brings his hand to his line of sight. A very faint sight of red was on his fingers. Anger fills his body and he punches the ground he's sitting on. _I haven't even come across anyone and I'm already signing my will. _Benjamin lets out a sigh as he leans his head onto the tree. He takes some more moments to catch his breath.

The night was cold and the air was dry. A shiver runs down Benjamin's back. The chill created goose bumps up and down his arm. His eyes gaze over to his bag. It's about time he finds out what is in it. He pulls the bag toward him and slowly unzips it. A flat circular board pops out. Was it a dart board? Benjamin just stared at it. _Dammit! It couldn't be a gun. _He searches through his bag some more hoping there would be another weapon. There wasn't any. There were only ten plastic packs, each pack containing eight darts and all the supplies that they told them was going to be in there. He pulls out one of the water bottles from his bag and pours it on the gash on his forehead. Then he takes his sleeve and runs his arm across his wound. A sharp pain ran through his head as he wipes it. As he brings his arm down a deep red smear ran down the length of the sleeve.

It's been long enough it's time to get moving again. Benjamin lifts himself up and that's when he noticed the tree he had been leading on had no bark. If he had his pocket knife he would carve his name into the tree but since they changed their clothes he was out of luck. He looked back at the plastic packs. He takes one of them and pulls the plastic container releasing all eight darts. As they fall to the ground he gets a hold of one and pulls off the safety plastic and starts to carve his initials into the tree. Slice by slice the wood comes off of the tree until the initials B.B were perfectly carved into it. Benjamin lets out a sigh. _It's another place I've been and it won't be the last._

"Aa-choo!" A sneeze comes out of some vegetation a good thirty feet away.

Benjamin's eyes widen. He quickly grabs all the darts the fell on the ground and slowly creeps his way to where the sound came from. _This is it, Benjamin! Time to make yourself known. _

He peeks his head through the bushes to witness (Male Student #6) Wayne Kennedy eating one of the supplied bread. He was the weakest member of Veronica Solis' gang. Not that he's a weakling but he was more manageable than the others. His sleeves were rolled up revealing his very hairy arms. For a 9th grade boy he was unusually hairy. During gym class, when they got to use the pool, he looked like a chimpanzee that decided to put on a swimsuit after recently escaping from the Zoo. But this didn't matter now. All Benjamin could think about now was his first target.

Scssh

Benjamin's eyes slowly trickle down to the weapon in Wayne's hands. It was a knife or some kind of dagger. It was hard to see in the moonlight but it looked like a Double-Bladed Knife. _Not a gun! Time to shine. People will remember me. Benjamin Barnes winner of the first American Battle Royale._ Benjamin takes the rest of the safety plastic caps off of the several darts in his hand. He raises one of the arrows and makes a few practice motions. _Just like a game of darts aim for the bullseye. _Benjamin takes one last deep breath as he throws the dart toward Wayne's head.

The dart goes with great speed into Wayne's throat. "Aaaaaarrgggggghhhh!!" As Wayne lets out a cry the dart in his throat pieces the inside even more as his Adam's apple moves up and down to produce sound. Wayne pulls the dart out of his throat and throws it to the ground.

Scssh

Wayne grabs his Double Bladed Knife and charges at Benjamin. He slices though the air. Somehow, as Wayne barged through the bushes, Benjamin managed to dodge his knife. Benjamin takes the seven remaining darts in his hand and jabs them all in Wayne's back over and over. Wayne gives out another screeching yell. Blood squirts out of the hole in his neck.

Wayne takes his knife and slices Benjamin's arm. Out of reflex Benjamin lets go of the darts leaving them in Wayne's back. _Dammit! _Benjamin realized he left his bag with the remaining darts back where he carved his name into the tree. Benjamin escapes Wayne's grip and dashes to where he left his bag. Wayne struggles to remove the darts from his back as he chases after Benjamin. _It's all me. I will be remembered!_

Scssh

Benjamin slides into his bag causing dirt and dust to circle around him. He tries to peal off the plastic containers but the pain in his arm kept making him loose his grip. Before Benjamin could open the package Wayne swung his knife again. Benjamin quickly grabs the dartboard and uses it to stop the blow of the blade. The blade pierces right through the center of the dartboard. The blade remained inside. Benjamin lifts his leg and kicks the dartboard toward Wayne's face.

Scssh

The dartboard falls to the ground. Wayne stays standing up in a zombie like state. The dagger didn't seem to pierce his face. Wayne falls to the ground. Benjamin slowly approaches Wayne's body, opening another pack of darts just in case. He puts his finger on Wayne's neck. He was dead. A sigh of relieve escapes Benjamin's mouth. _One down, more to go. Soon everyone will know me! _Benjamin sees a few darts still in Wayne's back. He reaches over to grab them when he notices a marble size hole in his back. Blood flowed out of it. That's when he notices the same hole in the front. _That's weird…_ Maybe he hit him in the chest. _Pull yourself together. Play to win. Be remembered!_

Scssh

The back of Benjamin's head was now blown off his body. His blood splattered against the vegetation. His initials are now ingrained with his blood. Benjamin's lifeless body falls down next to Wayne's.

From a far off distance from a precipice on the southern mountains (Male Student #3) Dean Miller produces a smile as he reloads his M95 Sniper Rifle.

**36 Students Remaining**


	8. 5: Till The End

**5: Till The End**

On the complete opposite side of the island the waves crash on the side of a cliff. On the very top of the cliff laid a house, a one story house nothing spectacular. There were no windows on this house just open holes on a harden clay wall. Attached to the holes were wooden planks. They were used to shield the people inside from the cold. On the side of the house creeping its way down the side of the cliff was an old wooden staircase. As the staircase is about to hit the ocean it connects to a small dock. It was big enough to fit one old, broken down boat. The people who used to live here must have fished for their food and grew their own crops because there was a small garden on the other side of the house as well.

(Female Student #9) Alison Moyer makes her way up the wooden stairway. She was hoping a boat would be at the bottom but she was out of luck. _That was a waste of my time. _She could barely see anything in front of her. Her supplied military bag was strapped to her back and she held tightly to her supplied weapon, Hedge Clippers.

Alison finally makes her way back to the top of the staircase. It was a lot of steps so she had to retain some of her breath. A bunch of dandelions seeds circle around her as if trying to inform her of something. The wind blows the seeds against the front door of the little house. She felt the need to enter the house but something seemed off. Something didn't feel right in the pit of Alison's stomach but something also drew her to the door. Alison takes a few silent steps toward the wooden door. She lifts the hedge clippers and pushes the door open with it.

It was hard to see outside but inside it was even worse. It just looked like a pitch black room of emptiness. Alison makes her way inside. Maybe this could be her base camp for the duration of the game either that or until it becomes a danger zone.

As she walks deeper into the darkness thoughts of a boy that not too long ago had been connected with her lips. _Isaac, where are you. Please don't make me go through this alone. _She bumps her knee onto the side of what seems to be a table. Her kneecap starts to throb. She places her hedge clipper onto the table and lays her military bag onto the floor. Before she could rummage through her bag to find the flashlight that Mrs. Paine said would be in there a loud gun shot is heard.

A part of the room lights up but it was too quick for Alison to see who it was. "Fuck!" Another gun shot fills the pitch black room. Alison quickly runs and dives onto the floor hoping to avoid being hit. For once the darkness was working for Alison. Alison prepares to move again. If only she knew where her hedge clippers were she could attack.

A loud clanking noise is heard. It sounded like metal hitting the floor. Maybe it was the hedge clippers. A couple of footsteps approach Alison. A soft, familiar voice is heard from the darkness, "Alison?"

_That voice…_Alison stands up. _Could it be him? _Even though they still couldn't see each other very well they caught a glimpse of each others eyes. She knew it was (Male Student #1) Isaac Baich. They both run toward each other and connect in a massive hug. "I thought I would never see you again."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I shot at you! I didn't know!" Isaac was slightly taller than Alison so he brought her head to the edge of his shoulder. "At least were together now." Alison and Isaac have been dating for a while now and Isaac had never felt happier in his entire life. Neither one of them started to cry while still remaining in their hug.

A rustle of some twigs is heard outside. Their paradise had come to an end. Both of them release from each other and quickly make their way to one of the windows. They could not see anyone outside. It's been a bit of time so their eyes adjusted to the darkness. Another rustle of twigs is heard from outside. Isaac manages to find his supplied Smith and Wesson .38 that he dropped on the floor and he walks to the front door. Alison grabs Isaac's arm as he's about to step outside. She rabidly shakes her head as if to say no, don't go out there. He just stares into her eyes and kisses her on the lips.

The door swings open without a sound. Isaac aims his gun outside the door soon followed with his body. Isaac slowly edges his way to the corner of the building.

Isaac gets out of Alison's line of sight. She looks down at her watch and turns its small glow on. It's only been thirty seconds. A bead of sweat rolls down Alison's face. _It's been too long! _Alison grabs the hedge clippers she left on the table and makes her way outside. She was immediately struck with a cold wind. Alison's eyes quickly moved from left to right but there was not sign of Isaac. "Isaac." Alison lets out a small cry.

Another rustling noise is heard behind Alison. Alison's back straightens up. She swings around her hedge clippers nearly hitting Isaac who was standing behind her. "Whoa! Easy with your weapon." Isaac lets out playfully.

A slight sigh escapes Alison's mouth, "That was just payback for shooting at me." Alison cracks a joke. It was weird they only have been out here for a short amount of time but it seems like this experience was becoming normal to them. There was an awkward pause. I think they both realized this is not the time to play around. Alison's voice becomes a lot more serious, "So was anyone out there?"

"I didn't see anyone. I think we are fine for now." Isaac wraps his hands around Alison.

Another rustle came from the corner of the house but this time it seemed a lot closer. Still connected in their hug Isaac aims the gun at the corner and so does Alison with her hedge clippers. They clutch each other even harder. Isaac's finger remained firmly on the trigger. The rustling becomes louder.

A cat pounces out of the corner of the house. Its paws claw the air as if attacking an invisible demon. As if the cat was an attacker about to kill them her whole body jumps out of shock. "Shit!" Alison sets out a sign of relieve. She kneels down and makes a calling noise to the cat but the cat just runs away in fear. Alison flops on the ground and stares at the ocean. A hint of light blue showed. The sun is coming back. Alison looks back to Isaac. "The cat had the right idea. We should just run. I mean we wouldn't be able to make it out of this…" Alison struggles to say the next word. This situation was too horrible to think of as a game, "situation together so what's the point in resisting it."

Isaac sits on the edge of the cliff and he pulls Alison closer to him. Both their legs dangle over the cliff. "We'll find away."

Alison takes her head off of Isaac's shoulder and looks him straight in the eyes. "What are you saying?" Her eyes gaze over the edge of the cliff.

"We fight till the end. You and me." Isaac grabs one of the dandelions next to him and hands it to Alison. "Make a wish."

Alison props herself up and blows as hard as she can. _Help me find the answer. _Alison thinks as the seeds blow in the wind. Only five lonely seeds remained on the stem. Alison gives another look at Isaac, "Till the end." and she kisses him on the lips.

**36 Students Remaining**


	9. 6: Protection

**6: Protection**

(Female Student #10) Uzuki Kimura makes her way down the narrow streets of a residential area. All the houses were tightly squeezed together. There were no real roads in this small town, just dirt. Dirt that made its way up every single nook and cranny. The dirt crawled up the sides of the walls like vines on the side of building. It was absolutely disgusting. Who would live in a place like this?

Uzuki stops in her tracks and she crouches down. She gently lays her bag onto the floor. Uzuki digs her fingernails into the cold hard dirt below her. Handful after handful of dirt is thrown to the side until there is a 3 inch deep, 10 inch around hole in the dirt. She pulls out a green, cylindrical, metal container. It was a landmine. Just holding this death-in-a-box made her uneasy. As she slowing brings it toward the hole she had just dug the sweat that was created in her hands causes the landmine to slip to the ground. She could have sworn her heart had stopped for a good five minutes. Fortunately, well at least according to the directions that came with the landmines, the landmines don't become active until the safely pin is released. Uzuki retains her breath and places the landmine inside the hole and covers it lightly with the dirt she tossed to the side and as she had done with all the other landmines she placed she removes the safety pin.

Uzuki removes a piece of paper and a pencil from her bag. She wipes off the sweat from her hands onto her skirt as she tries to find some moonlight to write on the piece of paper. On the piece of paper seemed to be composed of groups of parallel lines, squares and shaded in circles. It was a map but it wasn't the map that was supplied in their military bag it was hand drawn. It was a map of where Uzuki had placed all her landmines and she adds the one she just placed as well. She makes her way back to the building she is hiding in since all the landmines that she was supplied with were now in the ground.

Very similar to the outside of these houses the inside was also covered with dirt. How can a place get so dirty? It was like nobody had lived on this island for years. Uzuki throws her bag onto the floor after she had taken a bottle of water out of it. She twists off the cap breaking the seal of the water and flops onto the dirt invested chair. "What have I got myself into now?" She takes a long gulp from her water bottle.

Uzuki stares at the center of the old wooden table in the center of the room. It would be long before her eyes would adjust to the darkness of the room. _Why do I have to be here? Why can't life be easy? What good was it too sneak out of Japan to suffer the same fate?! They should have known better! _Uzuki starts to tighten her grip on her water bottle. _They never do anything right always making things worse. When will they ever learn? Why won't they just leave things be?! We would have been fine in Japan. A happy family. No they had to ruin everything. They always have to ruin everything! _The anger builds up in Uzuki and she throws her water bottle across the room. You can hear it crashing against some kind of breakable object. Most likely some kind of hardened clay objects.

Out of her frustration she puts her face down onto the dirty wooden table. Her fists come crashing down onto the table several times before she lifts her head. An inch develops in the back of her throat. The fact that she just threw her water across the room didn't help. "Why?!" She lifts herself off of the table and reaches for the military bag she had thrown on the ground. She pulls out the flashlight that was supplied for her and makes her way to where she threw the water bottle. Due to all the landmines surrounding her, she was not worried about anyone seeing her light and come find her.

She turns on the flashlight and beam of light travels all the way to the back of the room. Uzuki traverses to where she threw her water. Her fingers skim along the arm rest of a cane couch near the back of the room. Her beam of light shines onto a broken flower vase shattered on the floor. It must have been what the water bottle hit. Uzuki shines her light around in a circle. _Maybe it rolled under the couch. _Uzuki gets on her knees and flashes the light underneath the couch but there was nothing, just more dirt. As she gets up and wipes the dirt off her knees her flashlight shines onto a purple corduroy backpack.

Uzuki's eyes squint in confusion. _That's weird…_ The backpack looked relatively new and what was more confusing was that it had no dirt on it. She grabs it by the top and brings it toward the kitchen table. She slowly unzips it not knowing what to expect. Once the zipper has gone as far as it can go she shined her light into it and pulled out a 9th grade English book. _Weird… _Uzuki continues to pull out books until she gets her hands on a wallet. As she opens it up she sees a school ID with Ryan Foley's picture on it. _What's Ryan's stuff doing in this house? We didn't get to keep any of our stuff. _Uzuki reaches into the bag again and pulls out a pack of cigarettes. _Ryan smokes! No! _Taped on the back of the pack of cigarettes was a pack of matches. Uzuki immediately rips off the matches and starts to light the candles Uzuki found during the first trip into this house before she placed all the landmines around her location.

The room starts to light up with an orange haze. The room started to feel slightly cozier and welcoming…but only very, very slightly. Since there was a decent amount of light in the room now Uzuki decided to empty the bag onto the table. All of Ryan's personal items get sprawled across the table but something catches her eye. A blue light glows on the table. Uzuki's eyes light up. _Oh, thank God!!_ Ryan's cell phone seemed like a beacon of hope illuminating her heart. Uzuki didn't hesitate to grab it. She flipped the phone open and dials her house as quickly as she could.

Ring

No answer.

Ring

Again no answer. "Come on! Come on for once in your life pick up the phone!" Uzuki starts to pace around the room shuffling the dust beneath her feet.

Ring

"Hello" An all too familiar voice answers the phone.

Uzuki can't speak her hopes where shattered right in front of her eyes, "Mrs. Paine! You bastard what did you do?!" Her voice screeches through the distorted phone.

A very wobbly, heart warming voice responds, "Uzuki!" Not soon after sound of the phone traveling between people is heard.

Ms. Carrillo lets out a laugh as she begins to speak, "Uzuki Kimura I see you have found one of your classmate's personal belongings. We decided to scatter them throughout the island. To make it more fun. Who knows there might be some surprises in them."

"You are sick!" Uzuki lets out another yell. She didn't care if anyone heard her.

"Well we all have our guilty pleasures."

"I don't know how I'm gonna do it but I swear to God that I will make you guys pay!"

"We do not take kindly to threats Ms. Kimura." Ms. Carrillo stops talking. The silence made Uzuki even more uncomfortable then when she was holding the landmines. It wasn't long before a beam of red light filled up the room. Uzuki's soul screamed for help. Her collar had just started to beep. "Any trouble makers will be killed instantly."

Uzuki falls to the floor tears starts to well up on her face. Her voice became very quiet and weak as her imminent demise was about to come, "How can you do this to us? We are not bad people." Her collar blinks again.

Another horrible silence. "I like you Ms. Kimura you have promise. I guess action must be done in order to blow your collar. Not just words. The higher ups don't like it when we kill students so it's your lucky day. Sort of speak. Oh and just so you are aware the phone lines are only connected to each other. No calls can go out and no calls can come in but you can talk to other classmate's cell phones. I hate to leave you but I must go. Happy killings!" Ms. Carrillo lets out a very cheerful tone as she hangs up the phone.

Uzuki's collars stops glowing. She lets out a huge scream and as she was about to throw the phone across the room she stopped. _Can communicate with other people?_ Uzuki quickly scrolls through Ryan's phonebook. It seems that everyone's phone number had been programmed into Ryan's phone. Just like the class president. Uzuki starts to type out a message, **Anyone up for a plan to get out of this hell hole. Please respond back in text form - Uzuki. **She then clicks on All Senders and the message sends across the space. _Now all I have to do is wait._

Bling

"That was quick."

Uzuki opens the message and it read, **Uzuki? You're alive! It's Andy. Where can we meet? - Andy**

Before Uzuki responded she thought of how she had Ryan's phone. Maybe it wasn't actually Andy. Most people know that Uzuki and Andy are friends. Uzuki starts to type back. **Before I will tell you where I am prove to me you are Andy. - Uzuki**

A moment's pause.

Bling

**U don't trust me? Well if u insist. During ur B-day I gave you BF necklace which u broke 2 min after u got it. - Andy **

Uzuki smiles for the first time she has been out here as she started to type back. **I still blame u for wanting to pet the dog. lol…that felt wrong. laughing…anyway it's a little more complicated getting to me. I placed landmines all around the residential area where I am hiding out and I dont want u to get hurt. If you want to co** Uzuki's type limit is up so she sends it anyway and as soon as she does she continues to type. **come then make your way for D-6 I think theres a airport. I can guide u from there. Be safe. – Uzuki **the message gets sent.

Another moment goes by.

Bling

**I'll be there. I stayed in E-6 so its not that far. Im glad ur ok. Be safe as well. – Andy**

Uzuki hesitates before she decides to send one last message but she continues to type it anyway. **I trust you Andy. Don't disappoint me. – Uzuki**

**36 Students Remaining**


	10. 7: Crybaby

**7: Crybaby**

"Okay mom I'm leaving." A ten year old Stanley Pirie stood in the front doorway of his house holding in his hand a black, plastic ax. The ax had a mechanical mastodon symbol in the shape of a large coin, which meant it was for the black ranger, on the side. Mighty Morphing Power Rangers was his favorite television show. Even though the power rangers changed every season he and his groups of friends liked the oldest episodes the best. They weren't on television anymore but his parents had them on VHS, or ancient recordings, since they were kids so they stayed around the house.

Angela Pirie descended the wooden staircase to the main floor. In her hand was a light weight jacket, its sleeves torn at the very ends due to Stanley biting at it. "It's chilly out today. Take this just in case you get cold." Angela warps the jacket around Stanley's shoulders.

"Thanks mom." Stanley gives his mother a great big smile.

"Now only stay around the block where we can keep our eye on you." She pats down Stanley's semi-long hair. His hair wasn't really long except for the bangs that went just above his eyes. Angela giggles to herself. "Look like someone needs a haircut."

"Aaaww…mom." He shakes his head to make Angela stop petting him like a dog.

"Oh? Am I embarrassing you? How about when I do…this?" Angela wraps her hands around Stanley's small frame and rapidly moves her fingers. The little strokes across his ribcage cause him to laugh uncontrollably. A little snort comes out of Stanley as Angela finishes her tickle.

Two kids walk up the driveway of the Pirie household. One of which was Aaron Welsh, he was the shortest of the bunch. He had over his face a blue mask of the blue ranger. If the mask wasn't covering his face you would have seen his round cheeks; his short, parted to the side, brown hair; and his sad eyes. He wasn't all that sad though his eyes just gave the impression. He wasn't all that smart either it just so happens every power ranger gets taken so he's left with the geeky one. Aaron favorite was the black ranger but Stanley always insisted on playing him and because Aaron didn't like to argue he let him have it…every time.

Standing next to Aaron was the very predictable and very shy Zoe Martin. She had on her favorite t-shirt, one she had been wearing for three weeks straight (washing it of coarse). On it was a man dressed up in a suit of armor acting heroic and brave. It was her knight in shining armor. Zoe's mother would try to hide the shirt but Zoe would always find it. She also wore a yellow mask which meant she was the yellow ranger. The yellow from the mask complemented her reddish-brown hair but Zoe could care less about fashion though her pretty face suited it well.

"Okay, give me a kiss and then you can go play with your friends." Angela says as she finishes helping Stanley put his jacket on. Stanley kisses her on the cheek and runs outside to join his friends. "Be safe." Angela yells out, as all parents do when talking about safety, while she shuts the door. Angela's mind was at ease because she lived in a nice neighborhood. Very little crime, mildly rich neighbors, and the fact that five houses on the block belonged to parents of Stanley's friends. There was always an eye on them. They didn't even have to worry about curfew it was so safe but they usually came home around nine because that's all their ten year old bodies could take.

"It's time to save the word from Rita Repulsa." Aaron jumps on top of the brick wall surrounding the flower garden and raises his blue, plastic lance with a mechanical triceratops coin on the side, in the air. Rita Repulsa was one of the main villains in the Power Rangers' series.

"Where's Ada and Joshua?" Stanley grabs a hold of Aaron's hand and joins him on the brick wall. They both try to balance as the walk down the street.

"I think they're still eating lunch…" Zoe says as she watches the two boys fall off the wall. She didn't feel bad laughing at them.

"They must be at Joshua's house. Race ya there!" Aaron takes off at full speed and not too soon after Stanley was as well. Zoe continued to walk casually as the two competitive boys raced a couple houses down.

Stanley and Aaron reach the light blue house at the corner of the street. It had three decorative bushes along the front of the house. On the right side of the house curving around the corner of the street was a huge rock jetting out of the ground. It would have been removed a long time ago but the land itself was mostly rock so it was too much of a hassle to move it. You would have never known how rocky this part of the neighborhood was because the rock was six feet under the surface.

Both of the boys run around to the backyard. As they reach the window to the kitchen they jump up and down to be seen by the people inside. The window was slightly higher than the both of them so it soon became a jumping contest.

Ada Velez opens the rickety backdoor while holding a half eaten peanut butter sandwich in one hand and her pink, plastic bow and arrow in the other. It had a mechanical pterodactyl coin on it to represent the pink ranger. The door squeaked every time she moved it the slightest bit. "Hi, guys. Josh just has to clean up his room and then we can play." Ada fully steps outside. The sun shining down onto Ada's face made her Moroccan skin glisten in its light. Ada takes another bite of her peanut butter sandwich as she looks around the two boys. "Where's Zoe?" Her sweet voice was very much like her appearance, sweet. She wore a pink skirt with a white and yellow flowered shirt on top. Even her cheeks were rosy which added to her cute face.

"Who ever finds Zoe first wins!" Aaron speaks up.

"You're on!" Ada quickly responds as she leaps off the deck to search for Zoe. Stanley and Aaron were not too far behind each one splitting up from each other. As Ada turned the corner of the right side of the house she saw her friend Zoe sitting under the shade of a Japanese Maple Tree. Its gorgeous red leaves blowing with the wind were like a sunset but in a tree form. Ada brushes through the short grass to join Zoe in the shade. "So what up?"

"Nothing much just looking at the leaves." Zoe said as she twirled one of the red leaves through her yellow, plastic daggers. There was a saber-tooth tiger coin on the side of the dagger to show she was the yellow ranger.

As soon as Ada places herself at the base of the tree the front door opens. Out walks Joshua Bailey wearing his red power ranger mask on the top of his head. In his right hand he held a red, plastic sword with a tyrannosaurus coin on the side. Like the red ranger himself, Joshua was also the leader of this group of friends. If it wasn't for Joshua their group of friends wouldn't be friends. Because of his outgoing, friendly personality he befriended each kid around the block. His look was a lot like Stanley's but his bangs weren't as long as Stanley's. Joshua jumps down the few steps coming out of the front door. He stretches out his arms toward Ada and Zoe and yells out, "Watch out the Putty Patrol!!" He pointed to an imaginary monster behind Ada and Zoe. He pulls off the coin from off his weapon and raises it to the sky. "Tyrannosaurus!" As soon as he said it he pushes the red mask over his face and swings his sword at the invisible enemies.

Both Zoe and Ada rise from their seated positions and they both pull off the coin that was attached to their weapons. "Pterodactyl!" Ada yells out while pushing the mask over her face.

"Saber Toothed Tiger!" Zoe does the same thing the other two did. All three of them go back to back attacking the invisible monsters.

"Wait where are Billy and Zack?" Joshua quickly searches the area to find his lost friends. While playing their game they called each other by the power ranger's names. It was there way of getting more enjoyment.

"Aaahhh! Help! Lord Zedd has captured me!" Aaron sat on top of the huge rock with his hands behind his back wiggling like a worm.

Stanley who just came around the corner of the house yells out, "I'll save you! Mastod…aaaaahhh!!" His word was cut as he came crashing to the ground. It felt like he was just smacked in the face with the string part of a tennis racquet. He lifts himself off the ground now soaked with water.

Wayne Kennedy, Jennifer Stevens, and Kenneth LeBlanc stood a little bit down the street. Kenneth whips another water balloon at Stanley's face causing it to turn red and for Stanley to tear up. "Why don't you run home and cry you fucking pussy!" It wasn't surprise that Kenneth was swearing. He heard these words everyday in his house it was no surprise when he started to use them as well.

The female with long, sleek, black hair joins in the taunt. "You're such a fucking baby! Why don't you cry home to mommy?" Jennifer runs up to Stanley and pushes him right back down on the ground. More tears escape his eyes as little scrap marks form on his elbows.

Ada runs in-between Jennifer and Stanley and pushes Jennifer away "Leave him alone!" Although Ada was sweet she knew when to raise her voice.

"You think you're so tough? Why not hit me?" Jennifer opens herself up for a hit.

Ada doesn't move she just grabs a hold of Stanley's hand. As she tries to help him up she looks at Jennifer and stares at her straight in the eyes. "Why don't you just leave us alone?!"

Jennifer laughs in her face, "Why don't you guys go jump off a cliff because no body wants you alive. Not even your parents. I know they told me." She laughs again and pushes Ada forcefully. Luckily Joshua manages to catch Ada before she hits the ground.

"Back Off." Joshua gets right into Jennifer's face.

Jennifer just smirks. She looks down to Stanley. "You're lucky you have your friends. Otherwise you would be in a world of hurt. You're such a loser, Stanley."

Stanley's lips starts to quiver as more tears roll down his face. He claws against the ground as he dashes down the street back to his house. He ran out of desperation just to get away, to be comforted by his mother.

Ada tries to grab Stanley's hand as he ran away but she wasn't fast enough, "Stanley!" She cried out for him to come back but he was too far away. Ada started to chase after him followed by Joshua.

Kenneth takes a couple steps forward and yells out a chant that they had made up. Not long after Jennifer and Wayne joined in as the repeated the chant as long as they could see Stanley.

"Stanley boy, Stanley boy

Everybody wants that boy destroyed."

Zoe and Aaron stayed hidden to not receive the same torture Stanley did as the three bullies continued to taunt the poor Stanley.

A burst of noise fills the island. The crackle of sound didn't seem to be too close but that fact didn't seem to ease Stanley Pirie's (Male Student #21) nerves. He wraps his arms around his knees as he shoves himself deeper into a small nook between the sofa and a wooden bookshelf. It calmed his mind to shove himself into a corner but his tears continued the flow. Another blast echo's the island. His body shakes with the shot. If he was at home he would have ignored the blast as members of his class shooting illegal fireworks but here…he knew it was not fireworks. It was death.

Stanley looks down to the object in front of him. The moonlight shined off his weapon of death. Its long wooden handle touched the tip of his shoe as the flat, sharp end pointed away from him. The second he saw the hand ax he didn't want anything to do with it but it taunted him. The shine transfixed his tear drenched eyes…he couldn't do it.

_This is bullshit! Shannon…sh-she's dead… why can't things be the way they used. Friends…fun. No tears! No pain! No… _Stanley thoughts were cut off. The front door of the house swings open. _No death…_ A shadow of a person is outlined from the dim light outside. _No, no, no!! Why did you pick this house? Go somewhere else! _

The figure slowly enters the run down house. Every creak of the floor boards made Stanley's heart twist in the same way. _Please…oh please go away. _Another glimpse of moonlight shined from across the room. The mysterious figure also held tightly onto its weapon but instead of a solid beam of light its weapon had a wavy beam.

"This sucks!" The voice came from the mysterious figure. It came out more as a sigh then a clearly spoken word. Due to its lower voice it must have been a guy. _No, no, no, guys will play! Please be Joshua or Aaron. Give me a friend! Or would they…play? No!...Yes? Just leave!_

A soft pillow type sound occurred but it had small hits of metal as well. The mystery boy threw his supplied military bag onto the long wooden table. A metal candlestick, which was placed in the center of the table, topples over as soon the bag landed on the table. The moonlight coming from the blade rises as the mystery boy quickly lifts his weapon in a defensive stance.

Stanley looks down at the shining ax again. _I could make him go away. I could be alone again…no…I can't…could…I…I? No… I want to go home…go away. My friends…where are my…frie-ends…we would be so strong together…us…together. Go away!_ The silence in the room is broken as the mystery boy thrusts the blade into the wooden table. The thud seemed to linger in the air, in his soul. _He's playing! I know it!! Mom…_

Bling

One of those annoying cell phone rings, the one with bells moving from an upper register to a lower register in a rapid motion, arises to the right of Stanley. The mystery boy pulls out his supplied flashlight. The beam of light stretches across the room where the sound came from. Stanley became a deer in headlights. Even his thoughts froze in the realization he might be caught.

The tall figure makes his way across the room his shoe's scuff across the wooden floor as he stops in front of the couch. Stanley resists the urge to stick his head out to see who it is. It was more than a relief that the hand ax on the floor in front of him was unnoticed by the mystery boy.

Bling

Another loud annoying ring echo's through the small house. The boy makes his way back to where he threw his military bag. His hurried self made the room seem livelier. _Yes. Yes!! Leave! _The figure stopped as he looked down at cell phone in his hand. _No, No! Don't stop, keep going. _The blue, hazy glow shining out of the cell phone lit up the mystery boy's face. His features started to form behind the blue light. The shadows on the cheeks gave the impressions of good cheek bones. It could only be a handful of guys Benjamin Barnes, Dean Miller, Kenneth LeBlanc…_KENNETH!! No, no, no, no!! Anyone but him!_ Stanley still wasn't a hundred percent sure it was him but the feeling in the pit of his stomach told different. The figure was the same height as Kenneth he had the same facial structure, and the way that the boy thrust his blade into the hard wooden table all sighs pointed to Kenneth LeBlanc.

The light shining off the curvy blade was a warning. _He's playing I know he is. He's planning with someone to kill me. No, maybe he won't notice me. _

_"Loser!"_ Kenneth's voice started to echo in Stanley's head.

_Shut up! Shut up!_ Stanley's leg started to shake uncontrollably. The fear was getting to him. It almost hurt to cry but more tears came out.

_"What are you crying about? Fucking pussy! Go cry home to your mommy! Stanley boy, Stanley boy everybody wants that boy destroyed. You're such a loser. Loser…Looosssseerrr….LOSER!!"! _

"NO, I'M NOT!!" The room froze. Before the torment was only in his head but now…the outburst had words attached. Stanley was immobile again. How could he be so stupid to burst out like that?

It was too no surprise the flashlight got shined right on his face. "St-Stanley?"

"NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!" Stanley screams out of desperation and fear. He burst out of his little nook. The bookshelf wobbles as Stanley wraps his fingers around the long wooden handle of his hand ax. He was actually quite agile with it considering he was trying to aim it at another human being. He kept his eyes closed shut as he swung it downward. It collided. There were no sparks or a loud blaster sound in fact in was nothing like it was in Power Rangers. Its sound was very similar to the cracking a tree branch followed by screams of horror.

It was done he hit his target. As Stanley opened his eyes he didn't see the face of Kenneth LeBlanc he saw Andy Griffen's (Male Student #5) face. _What did I do?! Andy wouldn't be playing…he wouldn't. _Now that he knew who it was he realized Andy and Kenneth had these traits in common good cheeks bones, their height. The dark brown tone to Andy's face was masked by the blue of the cell phone's light so how could he have known the difference. _What have I done?_ He rushes to the side of Andy. Andy was a good kid, good grades, nice personality, good hearted, Stanley had to do something. "I'm s-s-sorry. Oh my god!!" Stanley frantically grabs the ax still lodged in Andy's chest and pulls as hard as he can.

With each pull Andy's body lifts up and drops back down to the floor. Andy cries in horror as the ax remained lodged in his chest. Stanley was not strong enough to pull the ax out. If only he could call on the power of the black ranger but this was not fictional. His classmate, his friend was dying right in front of him and it was all his fault. _I won't let you die!!_ Stanley tugs on the ax again. Andy' chest was completely covered in his own blood. As Stanley tries to pull on the ax again a handful of blood squirts out of the open wound in his chest.

"S-Sto-op!! Pl-Pleease!!" Andy's voice became very broken. It became harder and harder for Andy to swallow but he continued to speak. "Uzuki…I…I…protect…" More blood spews out of Andy's mouth.

Stanley retreats under the table. He couldn't help but just watch Andy slowly die. In a short time Stanley became a murderer. _Ke-Kenneth w-was bad. Andy…Andy was good…does…that m-mean…I'm bad? Help me with math problems again. Teach me to be better at baseball. Just don't…don't…_ Andy's body remains motionless on the floor. His blood pooled around him like a little pond. _…die._ It was too late there was nothing Stanley could have done. He just hid as he always did.

Bling

The annoying sound of bells is heard again. The cell phone in Andy's hand glows its sorrowful blue. Stanley couldn't help but see what it said. He flips open the purple plastic phone. It read: **One New Message. **He clicks its open. **I trust you Andy. Don't disappoint me. – Uzuki **

_No…he…I…Uzuki and Andy…She'll know…when he doesn't show up. She'll…she'll know it's me…no I…I didn't…She'll want to…_ More tears fell out of Stanley's eyes. He had to run. He had to get as far away from his tears, his pain, and the death. He grabs both military bags and the renaissance dagger still attached to the table and runs out of the house as fast as he can. He wanted to run home and cry but there was no home now, so all he could do was run and cry.

**35 Students Remaining**


End file.
